The Hungarian Grand Prix Proved That F1 Drivers Are Human

The 30th anniversary of Formula 1's first visit to Hungary produced a popular result as Sebastian Vettel led from start to finish in his Ferrari. The four-time champ was flawless as he swept past the pair of Mercedes on the front row as the starting lights dimmed, and went on to lead 69 uncontested laps around the 2.7-mile circuit.

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The German's drive was even more remarkable in the context of how the race played out behind the 28-year-old. It was a day where seemingly every driver that wasn't named Vettel hit trouble, hit each other, or met their demise in comical fashion. If you woke up looking for some motor racing-based hilarity, Hungary had you covered.

Every once in a while, the pinnacle of motor racing sends a reminder that its drivers are indeed mortal, and at the Hungarian Grand Prix, a race-long series of bad decisions and an endless stream of cartoon anvils falling from the sky, made for non-stop mayhem.

Williams driver Felipe Massa kicked off F1's ode to mediocrity by stopping short of his starting position, which triggered an aborted start and sent the field on another slow tour of the circuit before a second attempt at going green could be made. Felipe's blown parking job trimmed the 70-lap contest to 69, and earned the Brazilian a five-second time penalty which he served during his first pit stop.

Massa's transgression was highly uninspired compared to defending world champion Lewis Hamilton. The Briton arrived on the grid and seemingly channeled his inner Wile E. Coyote, yet somehow, despite everything pointing to an epic collapse, emerged at the end of the contest looking like the Road Runner.

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A botched start saw Hamilton turn pole position into fourth-place by the exit of Turn 1, and he wasn't done fumbling his way through the opening lap. Hamilton plummeted to 10th after taking a trip across a gravel trap at Turn 6, and then lost gobs of time behind slower cars. At the other end of the spectrum, Vettel was locked into a machine-like groove and missed the pandemonium taking place in his rearview mirrors.

Hamilton wasn't done firing rounds into his feet, and completed the unforced error hat trick after he went "Hammer Time" on Lap 49 by battering Daniel Ricciardo's left sidepod. The Aussie's Red Bull survived the hit, but race steward Charlie Whiting wasted little time extending an invitation to Hamilton pit lane, who obliged by taking a leisurely stroll through with the speed limiter engaged on Lap 54.

Kimi Raikkonen enjoyed running second to Vettel before his MGU-K hybrid power system went to sleep. He also had his front wings detach and explode like someone lost a stick of ACME dynamite beneath his Ferrari's nose. If his eventual retirement wasn't enough to make Kimi forget Hungary 2015, he also earned a five-second time penalty for speeding on pit lane prior to parking his car…

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Nico Hulkenberg's front wing assembly decided to break free at the end of the front straight and briefly caused the Le Mans winner's Force India to pop a wheelie. Thankfully, the car stayed on the ground and the German was uninjured when it went into the tire barriers. The safety car was deployed while the debris field — and the mangled Force India — were retrieved.

Ricciardo's day started off with contact when he and Williams' Valtteri Bottas came together, continued with Hamilton's hit, and closed with having his right-front wing array trampled by Nico Rosberg, which required a visit to the pits for a replacement. Despite the three incidents, Ricciardo held on to finish third. His young Russian teammate Daniil Kvyat earned his first podium in F1—even after receiving a 10-second time penalty for making a pass outside the confines of the racing surface.

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Angering the stewards at least three times was achieved by Pastor Maldonado who broke the pit lane speed limit, overtook a car during the safety car period, and clobbered Sergio Perez's Force India. Maldonado was given two strolls down pit lane and a 10-second time penalty for his Hungarian trifecta. Perez, as you may recall, kicked off the event on Friday by flipping his car.

Hamilton fans had every reason to change the channel early in the race, but it was definitely worth the wait for those who persevered through the shower of cartoon anvils.

As Hamilton's day went from bad to worse with the Lap 54 drive-through penalty, the Racing Gods had one major plot twist left to reveal. With the checkered flag just minutes away, Rosberg was set to take advantage of his teammate's epic collapse, but Nico's poor choice to cut across Ricciardo's bow on Lap 64 cut his left-rear tire and forced the German to pit for a replacement.

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Coming off nine races where Hamilton failed to finish lower than third, Rosberg was primed to make Lewis pay for the afternoon of brain farts, but as Keke's son couldn't help from joining in the fun. The 18 points that finishing second guaranteed—or even the 15 that third offered if Ricciardo got by—would have been invaluable in Rosberg's championship pursuit.

Sadly, with one ill-timed steering maneuver, Nico's second-place turned into eighth. And somehow Hamilton, who rallied back to finish sixth, went from possibly losing his championship lead on Lap 54 to extending his margin over Rosberg heading into F1's summer break.

On a day where he did everything wrong, the bane of Rosberg's existence got the last laugh, yet barring a few late passes on fresh tires, Hamilton's improbable result was mostly due to the misfortune of others.

And in a perfect close to the event, Ricciardo managed to drop his second-place trophy, adding a dent to the handsome cup that complemented the dings on his Red Bull chassis.

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Most F1 races are hailed for their displays of excellence, and on rare occasions, we're gifted a weekend like the one that went down in Hungary. In light of the heaviness that came with Jules Bianchi's loss, a little bit of humor at the expense of most F1 field was aptly timed.